How to Upgrade to Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0

Using Oracle Solaris 11

by Tim Read

How to use the Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition software to upgrade from an Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.3 5/11 and Oracle Solaris 10 cluster to a platform based on Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0 and Oracle Solaris 11 with minimum downtime.

Published May 2012

This multi-part article provides a step-by-step example of how a single-instance cold-failover Oracle database can be upgraded from an Oracle Solaris 10 and Oracle Solaris Cluster 3.3 5/11 cluster to a new Oracle Solaris 11 and Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0 cluster.

Note: There is no "in place" upgrade path (that is, no direct path using the same hardware) to Oracle Solaris 11 and Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.0.

Oracle Solaris Cluster has an agent that supports a cold-failover Oracle database configuration. In a cold-failover configuration, there is a period during which the database is unavailable. This period occurs when the database is being stopped on its former hosting node, the storage and any virtual IP addresses are migrated, and the database is brought back online on the new host.

Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition software is used to maintain data synchronization between the two environments. Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition enables you to manually initiate an automated sequence of steps that control application start and stop commands and the direction of data replication. It allows you to cut over to the new cluster while still having the option to back out in case anything goes wrong. Implementing such a configuration enables a safer upgrade, and it also provides a potential platform for disaster recovery.

Note: For information on Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition features and how they simplify the upgrade process, see Part VIII.